PM summons CCI meeting on 29th

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has summoned a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), to be held after 11 months, on Feb 29.According to sources, the interference of NAB and FIA in the provinces would be an important issue, while the NFC Award is also going to be on the agenda.

Nawaz Sharif has summoned the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office after the Senate chairman’s ruling to hold the CCI sitting within 15 days, the chief ministers’ demands and repeated reminders of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination. The meeting being held after 11 months will also make it possible to end the current tensions between the Centre and the provinces.

Sources say the CCI meeting – last held on March 18, 2015 – will discuss various issues raised by the provinces, including the NFC amount yet to be paid by the Centre, share in other taxes and re-gasification plants established in Sindh and Balochistan (Gwadar) under the LNG import agreement.

The four chief ministers and federal ministers, who are the CCI members, will attend the meeting, which is going to approve two annual reports on the decisions made during the last two years and other important matters.

Sources say the issue of dues related to water and power to be paid by the provinces and the new laws aimed at curbing power theft will also be on the agenda. It is expected that the issue of conducting the population census would also be approved.

The last CCI meeting had agreed in principle to carry out the census but could not decide to execute the matter amid some reservations expressed by Sindh and Balochistan and other problems.